


Third Time Lucky

by NorthsidePrincess (April_Zephyr)



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-12-07 00:50:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18227687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/April_Zephyr/pseuds/NorthsidePrincess
Summary: Veronica’s fingers drummed nervously on the table. The brunette was currently nursing a double chocolate milkshake, but that didn’t seem to ease the worries of what was going to happen tonightHer life was spiralling out of control and there was nothing she could do other than run. Which was exactly what she did. Veronica Lodge was gone for an entire summer and refused to use her phone for any contact with anyone. This was a trip of reflection. And reflecting was what she did.It was an eye-opening experience.





	Third Time Lucky

* * *

Veronica’s fingers drummed nervously on the table. The brunette was currently nursing a double chocolate milkshake, but that didn’t seem to ease the worries of what was going to happen tonight

Her life was spiralling out of control and there was nothing she could do other than run. Which was exactly what she did. Veronica Lodge was gone for an entire summer and refused to use her phone for any contact with anyone. This was a trip of reflection. And reflecting was what she did.

It was an eye-opening experience.

She stared at her phone for a few more minutes before turning it on. The teenager was dreading reconnecting to everything she needed a break from. As soon as the phone sprung back to life way too many notifications sounded and it definitely did not help her anxiety.  
“Well, it appears that a certain raven-haired princess has returned to Riverdale.” Jughead grinned, sitting on the opposite side of her. Veronica looked at him properly for the first time, this entire time her life had revolved around Betty and Archie. Jughead was a side character to her story and she couldn’t help but feel bad about it, “So where did you go?”

“Away.” Veronica smiled sadly. She promised herself she was going to make an effort with Jughead. He was worthy of earning a main character role in her story, “I needed to get away from all of this… So tell me, did things get better?”

“I wish I could say that things did get better.” Jughead sighed, leaning forward on his elbows, “But Betty and I are over for good. Archie has moved on with Josie. You can say that the friend group has disintegrated. I can’t even remember the last time I had an actual conversation with Archie, Betty, or even Kevin. And that says a lot.”

“Oh.” Veronica breathed, pushing her milkshake toward Jughead. She wasn’t going to drink and it would be better for it to not go to waste, “This… It didn’t have anything to do with me leaving, right?”

“Of course not.” Jughead stated firmly, using the straw to stir the milkshake slightly, “The friendship was a ticking time bomb. This would have happened eventually. We are all too different.”

“So where does that leave us?” Veronica questioned. She didn’t like the idea of having no friends. And she wasn’t willing to go back to her old ways and become a part of Cheryl Blossom’s group of bitchy friends.

“That’s your choice,” Jughead answered. Tapping his finger’s on the glass. It was always interesting to see the other man think. Veronica always wondered what was going through his head, “We weren’t really friends, to begin with. But that is something that we can change if you want.”

“I think we should work on becoming friends.” Veronica smiled, clasping her hands together. She liked the idea of being friends with Jughead. Maybe she had come to Riverdale with the wrong idea. It wasn’t Betty that she needed to become a better person. She was the one who needed to work on this by herself, “Actual friends, without it being forced because of Archie and Betty.”

“I can do that.” Jughead agreed, smiling. It was nice to be given the opportunity to have a third new beginning. Third time was the charm after all.

\----

Hanging out with Jughead was everything she wasn’t expecting it to be. He was the first person that she could have an intellectually stimulating conversation with without having to explain the majority of things. They understood pop culture and literature. Two sides of the same coin. They would like the same author or director, but like different works by them. It stimulated debates and it was enjoyable for Veronica. They both liked Truman Capote’s works. But she favoured Breakfast at Tiffany’s while Jughead favoured In Cold Blood.  
“Finally, we get to meet Emily the strange.” Toni smiled, she was a pretty thing and Veronica couldn’t help but wonder if the girl had anything going on with Jughead, “This makes more sense than the girl next door.”

“Toni. Stop.” Jughead warned, before introducing the two to each other, “Veronica Lodge, this is Toni Topaz, Toni this is Veronica.”

“Veronica Lodge as in Hiram Lodge’s daughter?” Toni asked incredulously. Veronica wasn’t surprised, most people reacted negatively to her when they found out that she was Hiram Lodge’s daughter, “Wow. You made friends with the enemy.”

“I’m not my father,” Veronica stated firmly. It wasn’t fair that people often decided to not look beyond the fact that she was not her father. Yes. She was related to him, but that did not mean that she liked the same things or agreed with everything he did, “As much as I do love him, I can agree that he doesn’t make the best decisions.”

“Well. All of the Southside Serpent’s have lost their homes because of your father.” Toni commented. That was something that Veronica did not know. No one had told her that her father was doing anything to the Southside, “Do you still love daddy dearest?”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” Veronica frowned, turning to Jughead. It hurt to know that even though they were working on being friends, Jughead didn’t even trust her enough to tell her what her father was doing. No one seemed to trust her with anything. It wasn’t fair, “I could have done something.”

“What could you have done?” Jughead shot back, “Everything was set in stone before you came back. There’s not much you can do now.”

“There sure as hell is,” Veronica argued, deciding to leave. She could get introduced to the rest of the serpents at another time. Right now she needed to talk to her father. Veronica Lodge was going to fix this mess, “Just watch me.”

“Veronica! Don’t do anything stupid.” Jughead yelled after her. Watching as Veronica left the bar. He turned to look at Toni and gave her a levelled glare, “Shit. Toni, you did not have to do that.”

“Why not? We’re now going to find out where her loyalty lies.” Toni said nonchalantly, leaning against the bar. Jughead didn’t understand how she could be so calm, “You’ve gotten attached to her really fast Jughead. Are you sure that this is just a friendship? Is there something I need to know?”

“Can we not talk about this right now?” Jughead frowned, not liking where this conversation was going. They were supposed to be talking about Veronica’s safety. Not his feelings, “If anything happens to her this is on you.”

“Nothing will happen to her.” Toni said confidently, “She’s the devil’s daughter, he won’t hurt her physically.”

“But he can still hurt her in other ways.” Jughead pointed out. He didn’t want Veronica to get hurt. They were friends and no one wanted their friend hurt, “We need to stop this.”

“Jughead Jones, you’re in love with Veronica Lodge.” Toni stated, her eyes were slightly wide with realisation and it was times like this that he hated how preceptive the girl was, “Shit. When the hell did this happen? What happened to you know, the blonde that you were dating.”

“Can we not talk about this?” Jughead hissed out, “This is not the time to talk about my love life.”

“We’re going to have to talk about this eventually.” Toni laughed, folding her arms under her chest. It was an authoritative pose that she liked to use to get her point across, “I don’t blame you, Veronica Lodge is damn hot.”

“Shut up.” Jughead frowned, earning another laugh from Toni, “You can’t be saying stuff like this around people.”

“Don’t worry.” Toni smiled, “It’ll be our little secret.”

\----

Veronica knew that the best way to approach her father was with a deal. She wasn’t entirely sure what she could offer him to get him to leave the Southside Serpents alone. But she was going to try everything and anything.  
“Mija, I’m a little busy.” Her father said, not looking up from his papers. When he noticed that his daughter wasn’t going away, he let a low sigh before finally looking up at her. Lately, whenever Veronica saw her father, he had the habit of being either emotionally manipulative or just generally a horrible person. Prison had changed him, “Okay. You have five minutes.”

“Fine. I need you to leave the Southside Serpents alone and re-home them.” Veronica stated firmly, her father’s eyebrow raised comically. But right now she needed to make sure he would back off, “If you need a contract, we can draw one up.”

“Wow. Well, I definitely was not expecting that.” Hiram snorted, “And here I was thinking that you would want to use the lake house again. Now tell me, what kind of contact do you want to be drawn up?”

“Anything. I will do anything you need me to do as long as you don’t touch a single hair on anyone from the Southside.” Veronica answered firmly, she couldn’t help but feel annoyed by the fact that he thought that she would bother him for something as remedial as using the lake house, “Anything.”

“Even if it’s to never date Archie Andrews again?” Hiram queried, “I’ll give you some time to think about it.”

“No need. I won’t date Archie Andrews again. I can swear to that.” Veronica promised, “Does this mean that you will back off. Leave the Southside alone?”

“Yes, mija.” Hiram smiled, “Do you want a paper contract or do you think word of mouth is enough.”

“Daddy. If break the contract, just know that you will lose me.” Veronica stressed, she needed her father to know the importance of this. Veronica needed to have something that her father would not want to lose, “I will cut myself out of your life so fast that you will barely have any time to blink.”

“Do you want to tell me what this is about?” Hiram frowned, moving his papers to the side, “What is really going on? Why are you so invested in the Southside now? What has changed?”

“There’s someone I care about that’s from the Southside.” Veronica answered softly, “And I don’t like that it’s YOU hurting them.”

“Oh mija.” Hiram started sympathetically, “You’re in love.”

“Oh.” Veronica breathed, it was a shock. The brunette didn’t know when this happened. They weren’t even romantically involved. How on earth did she manage to fall in love with him? This was not good at all, “Daddy, I’m in love.”

“Yes, you’re in love.” Hiram repeated, he appeared to also be shocked by the revelation, “I should get back to work. We can talk about this at a later time.”

“Okay.” Veronica agreed, “I’ll see you later.”

It was far too easy and in all honesty, Veronica did not feel like she fixed things completely. But at least her father was now aware that she was not happy with what he was doing.

She could only hope for the best.

\----

,

 

As usual, there was a catch that came with her father’s promises. Her family were milking their support to Southside for everything they could get. Yes, Veronica still wasn’t liked by the majority of the Southside. But she was glad that they weren’t homeless anymore.

The only current problem that she had was that she had somehow fallen in love with Jughead Jones and she had no idea how that happened. It was like a shock to her system. Veronica Lodge wasn’t going to ruin their friendship with feelings. Feelings always ruined everything.  
“What’s wrong with you?” Toni asked. They were currently sharing a chocolate milkshake. Toni was one of the few Serpents that made an effort with her. They had somehow developed a comfortable friendship. Veronica appreciated it a lot because sometimes there were only so many things you could get away with when your best friend was a guy. Toni was all up for days where they had sleepovers and wore masks and watched very corny romances, “You’re usually more chatty.”

“I was just overthinking.” Veronica smiled, before ultimately deciding to change the subject. She wasn’t ready for anyone to know her secret just yet, “So what were you saying?”

“No. You can’t do that.” Toni complained, taking hold of Veronica’s hands in her own, “You were quiet for a good ten minutes. Something is bothering you.”

“Have you ever liked someone that you really shouldn’t like?” Veronica asked curiously, it would be nice to hear about someone else’s experience in the same situation before she decided on what she was going to do, “And I mean really like someone. Maybe even possibly love them?”

“Of course, everyone’s had a taboo sort of love.” Toni answered all-knowingly, “Are we talking a Romeo and Juliet kind of love?”

“I guess…” Veronica sighed, “I sound like such a hypocrite considering the fact that I did say that Romeo and Juliet were the exception, and not the rule. But I hypocritically fell into the same situation.”

“Then don’t be Romeo and Juliet.” Toni stated firmly, “You don’t need to think about everything that makes the two of you so different. If you truly love each other, you can make this happen without anyone dying.”

“Do you really think it’s that easy?” Veronica queried, she couldn’t help but feel so self-conscious about this conversation. Veronica Lodge didn’t like showing people her weaknesses, “I’m scared.”

“Of course it won’t be easy.” Toni smiled softly, “Love is never easy. But there’s nothing to be scared of. Jughead Jones is as head over heels as you are.”

“Am I seriously that obvious?” Veronica let out a sharp laugh. She felt almost hysterical, “I’m so embarrassed.”

“You’re not so obvious. But Jughead is, and I needed to somehow get your confirmation that you liked him too.” Toni laughed, “I’m sorry for tricking you into confessing. But I did kind of get the hint when you started talking about having a forbidden kind of love.”

“What do I do now?” Veronica continued, she knew what she had to do. But she needed to hear it from Toni.

“You get your man.” Toni said, “That’s all you can do.”

\----

Veronica wasn’t sure how long she was running for. It probably would have been better if she had just contacted him, and met him in a set place. But she wasn’t thinking straight. Everything about how she felt was making her feel disoriented. The brunette needed to get this off her chest before she fell apart. When she finally found him she couldn’t help but slam into his chest.  
“Veronica? What’s wrong?” Jughead asked, pulling her closer to him, “Are you okay?”

“Jughead Jones.” Veronica started, her eyes were already watering. Everything was just so overwhelming. Jughead seemed to be shocked by the appearance of her tear-filled eyes. It wasn’t that she was upset. If anything she felt relieved, “I’m in love with you.”

“Jesus.” Jughead let out a huff of laughter. It almost sounded incredulous, “And here I was thinking that you were going to give me some bad news.”

“Is that all?” Veronica frowned, pushing herself away from his chest. Instead of letting her move away from him, he held her tighter to him, “I can’t believe you.”

“That’s not all.” Jughead voiced, pressing his lips to her forehead. It was a sweet gesture, “I love you too.”

“How are we going to do this?” Veronica asked, “We love each other but our lives are so complicated.”

“We’ll figure it out as we go.” Jughead answered, “Life is always complicated, but we’re not complicated. We understand how we feel and there really isn’t anything holding us back.”

“My family.” Veronica continued, “I’m Northside, you’re Southside.”

“Fuck all of that.” Jughead stressed, “That doesn’t matter unless we make it matter. We may be from different sides of town, raised in completely different backgrounds. But we’re still the same and I’m not going to let anything ruin that.”

“Then I won’t let anything ruin it too,” Veronica promised, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him. It was sweet. He tasted like black coffee and it was a taste that she loved. She envisioned an entire life with him. Waking up every morning to the smell of freshly brewed coffee and an array of cereal. Morning kisses. Just being happy together.

“I promise that too.” Jughead smiled, pressing another kiss to her lips, “So how do you feel about lunch and a movie?”

“I would love lunch and a movie.” Veronica agreed, letting him pull her under his arms so that they wrapped up in each other,

For the first time in a long time. Everything made sense. Sometimes the person that you need to be a part of your life was there from the beginning. Never in a million years did Veronica think that would be Jughead. But she wouldn’t change it for the world. She was in love and she couldn’t help but feel grateful that she gave their friendship a chance. Life was never going to be the same. And she liked that.

**Fin.**


End file.
